Previous ChapterNext ChapterThis is “Information Security: Barbarians at the Gateway (and Just About EverywhereElse)”, chapter 13 from the book Getting the Most Out of Information Systems(v. 1.4). Fordetails on it (including licensing), click here.For more information on the source of this book, or why it is available for free, please seethe project's home page. You can browse or download additional books there. Todownload a .zip file containing this book to use offline, simply click here.Has this book helped you? Consider passing it on:Help Creative CommonsCreative Commons supports free culture frommusic to education. Their licenses helped makethis book available to you.Help a Public SchoolDonorsChoose.org helps people like you helpteachers fund their classroom projects, from artsupplies to books to calculators.Table of ContentsChapter 13Information Security: Barbarians at the Gateway (andJust About Everywhere Else)13.1 IntroductionLEARNING OBJECTIVES1. Recognize that information security breaches are on the rise.2. Understand the potentially damaging impact of security breaches.3. Recognize that information security must be made a top organizational priority.

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Sitting in the parking lot of a Minneapolis Marshalls, a hacker armed with a laptop and a telescope-shaped antenna infiltrated the store’s network via an insecure Wi-Fi base station.Particular thanksgoes to my Boston College colleague, Professor Sam Ransbotham, whose advice, guidance, andsuggestions were invaluable in creating this chapter. Any errors or omissions are entirely my own.The attack launched what would become a billion-dollar-plus nightmare scenario for TJX, theparent of retail chains that include Marshalls, Home Goods, and T. J. Maxx. Over a period ofseveral months, the hacker and his gang stole at least 45.7 million credit and debit card numbersand pilfered driver’s licenses and other private information from an additional 450,000customers.E. Mills, “Attacks on Sony, Others, Show It’s Open Hacking Season,” CNET, June 8,2011.TJX, at the time a $17.5 billion Fortune500 firm, was left reeling from the incident. The attackdeeply damaged the firm’s reputation. It burdened customers and banking partners with the timeand cost of reissuing credit cards. And TJX suffered under settlement costs, payouts from court-imposed restitution, legal fees, and more. The firm estimated that it spent more than $150 millionto correct security problems and settle with consumers affected by the breach, and that was just thetip of the iceberg. Estimates peg TJX’s overall losses from this incident at between $1.35 billion and$4.5 billion.A. Matwyshyn, Harboring Data: Information Security, Law, and the Corporation(Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009).

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